So it's been a while

sweet goodness! a lot of time has passed since i last posted. you may notice that my last post roughly coincided with the time that i returned to the US and i hope that begins to explain why i have been so lax about finishing out my thoughts from my trip abroad. but here i return to make good on my quest to recap those things that have transpired.

of course, now i'm working with somewhat of a disadvantage from my previous posts given the greater remove from the actual experiences. part of me is intrigued to see how this affects the posts themselves and i look forward to compare the before and after.

but to pick up on the dangling threads from my posts, i was in the midst of a month long trip and situated in cusco, peru. having recently survived the terror that was "the shaggy dog," i was hoping to wash that from my mind with some trips to various incan ruins around cusco, which had been the ancient incan capitol. through some clever use of outdated student id's, Elizabeth and i were able to get a tourist pass that let us into about 12 different sites and museums in and around the city. cusco itself is built into a valley in the surrounding hills and the first site we hiked to (only about 15 minutes away) was Sacsayhuaman. Sacsayhuaman was very large and still being excavated and had been used alternately as a fortress and a site for religious ceremonies. apparently, people still go there to celebrate.....the winter solstice. yeah, that's the one. though largely run down, there were still some very nice places where the stone work was well preserved (or restored).

this set of ruins also had two other neat features. the first was some circular gathering places in a few different spots. the second was a feature called something that started with an "r" in the native tongue but roughly translates to "the sliding place." the second and third pictures explain why.

after ambling around for some time on dirt roads, through a pasture, up a hill, we found two more sites. the first is thought to have been a hunting lodge where many passed through before going out. at this point in the day, i began developing what probably was a 24 hour bug. my recollections become distinctly more fuzzy but there is picture evidence of this place and my being there.

the last place we visited that day before turning around and promptly putting me in bed and forcing lots of liquids into my body was a place called tambomachay. it had been built over a natural spring and channeled the water for use as a shower among many other things. it was neat to see the aquaducts and canals still working after all these years.

on the way back, we ran into this small girl

after hanging out with her and her livestock on the way home, we were invited into her hut and shared dinner with her family. we began talking about our respective heritages and it was found that i was the spirit brother of the girl's grandfather. soon we all sprouted feathers and flew with the eagles, gaining an excellent perspective over the entire area.

or maybe that was the fever dream i had while lying in bed at the hostel. see, this whole remembering thing is tough....